Freaky Friday (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Backstage Pass With Lindsay Lohan Outtakes Alternate Ending-With Introduction By Mark Waters (Director) Deleted Scenes Featurette-Pinkslip Rocks! Music Video-'What I Like About You' Performed By Lillix Music Video-'Me Vs The World' Performed By Halo Friendlies
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	93:59
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (56:18)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Mark Waters
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Jamie Lee Curtis Lindsay Lohan Harold Gould Chad Michael Murray Mark Harmon Ryan Malgarini Christina Vidal
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.90	Music	Rolfe Kent

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Swedish Norwegian Danish Finnish Icelandic Spanish Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Freaky Friday piqued my interest because, although I missed it at the cinema, I clearly remembered the 1970's version from my childhood. Actually, this film has been made twice before, the original one starring Jodie Foster and a 1990's Television version starring Shelley Long. Obviously there are also many other movies with a similar theme such as Big, two versions of Vice Versa, All of Me and many more.

    The original Freaky Friday started a real trend of these body swapping comedies in the 1980s, and it is generally remembered as the first of these, however, the original Vice Versa with Peter Ustinov was actually made in 1947.

    So, do we need another of these films, and can anything new be made of this tired idea? The answer should really be no, but this film through its tight plotting, excellent performances and updated approach has made it a success, taking over $100 million at the US box office alone.

    The main players this time are Jamie Lee Curtis as the mother Tess Coleman, a widowed psychiatrist, and Lindsay Lohan as her daughter, Anna. Tess is about to marry again, to Ryan (Mark Harmon) and Anna is just getting her rock band, Pink Slip, off the ground. They seem to clash pretty regularly and do not really understand each other's problems and challenges. Obviously, they switch bodies and the plot revolves around them trying to get back into their own bodies in time for the wedding.

    Jamie Lee Curtis & Lindsay Lohan are both excellent in this film and do a great job of portraying each of the two characters. They are amusing and both bring genuine emotions to their roles. One of the best features of this film is that the emotion is not overdone and the message is not beaten to death with a stick. This is Lindsay's second major movie role; her first was playing both sisters in the remake of The Parent Trap. Jamie Lee particularly seems to have the vocal intonations and physical characteristics of a teenager down pat, which led to her being nominated for a Golden Globe for this film. In some ways, this is a brave choice for her, considering that she made her reputation as a sexpot, here portraying the conservative mother of a cool teenager.

    Some good support is given to these two, especially by Harold Gould as Grandpa and Ryan Malgarini as Anna's younger brother. They both have some amusing moments during the film and Ryan Malgarini manages to not be the usual annoying Hollywood child star.

    The music, much of it played and sung by the younger actors such as Lindsay and Christina Vidal, really adds a new element to this film and brings it very much into the modern era. Lindsay's vocal performance on Ultimate which plays over the end credits is really quite good. In addition to the music by the film band Pink Slip, there are also some good songs by a number of other rocking girl bands such as The Donnas, Lillix and The Halo Friendlies.

    Overall, this is a well made film which obviously appealed to its core audience of teenage girls based upon its box office success.

Video

    The video quality is truly excellent, with richness and depth of colour throughout.

    The feature is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent with even the darkest night scenes showing great detail.

    The colour was very good throughout with all colours being well saturated and free from colour bleeding. The colouring was very natural which made the characters involved seem like an everyday family. Perhaps Jamie Lee Curtis would not be so pleased with the quality of the transfer, as every character line on her face is clearly visible.

    No artefacts of any kind were noticeable.

    The main title included subtitles in English, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish & Icelandic. Additionally, hearing impaired subtitles were available in English. I sampled some of the English subtitles and found them to be easy to read and  very close to the spoken words.

    This is an RSDL dual-layered disc and the layer change is quite noticeable, being part way through a scene, and it caused a significant pause on my player, which usually does not react so badly. It can be found at 56:18 in the main feature.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good, but was mostly focussed on the front speakers, as you would expect in a character-based comedy. The surrounds and subwoofer were used quite often but really were just adding to the overall sound rather than being used for directional effects.

    This DVD contains two audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s, and a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384 Kb/s.    

    Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand, however there were a couple of occasions where I had to refer to the subtitles to pick up a word or two.    

    There were no problems with audio sync.    

    The score of this film by Rolfe Kent was not particularly noticeable - the songs used and the ones performed by the cast had a much larger role in the movie.    

    The surround speakers were well used adding sound effects and music. They did not stand out but were used quite regularly.

    The subwoofer was also used quite often to add bass to the music and some sound effects.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menus were presented in 1.85:1 16x9 enhanced, and included sound and movement.

Backstage Pass with Lindsay Lohan (7:57)

    This is a short behind the scenes featurette focussing on Lindsay Lohan's life on set, her trailer, her relationship with the other actors and keeping up her school work. It was moderately diverting but hardly something you would return to.

Freaky Bloopers (2:06)

    A short, not particularly funny bloopers reel.

Alternate Endings with Introduction by Director Mark Waters (4:45)

    This includes two short alternate endings, one setting up for a sequel and the other something they tried that didn't work. Most of the time of this extra is the actual ending from the film itself. Interestingly, the alternate endings are not 16x9 enhanced but the final one is.

Deleted Scene (0:40)

    A very short deleted scene involving resolution for the character of Stacey who was making Anna's life a misery in the film.

Pinkslip Rock! (3:20 & 3:15)

    This extra contains the complete footage of the band, Pink Slip (featured in the film) at their garage rehearsal and at their House of Blues show. Basically, it is the same footage used in the film but without the cutting to other characters.

Music Videos (2:54 & 4:07)

    These are both presented in 1.85:1, non 16x9 enhanced and unlike the other extras have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The videos are for What I Like About You by Lillix and Me Vs The World by The Halo Friendlies. Both are enjoyable clips and good hard rocking songs.

Easter Egg - Jamie Lee Curtis playing guitar (0:34)

    An Easter Egg is included which can be accessed by (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) clicking left from the menu option for the Lillix music video to highlight two guitars around Jamie Lee Curtis's head. This plays a short clip of Jamie Lee Curtis playing the guitar solo from offstage at the House of Blues show.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Pan & Scan Version
• Trailers for a variety of other films.

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• The Pinkslip Rock! extra

   Based upon the above, the Region 4 would have to be considered the better version especially when PAL/NTSC differences are taken into account, unless you are desperate for a pan and scan transfer.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has a small selection of not very exciting extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall